Letters from readers

The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra management team members have failed, year after year, to bring in the revenues necessary for our orchestra.

In any other business arena, they would be fired and replaced.

But this group has decided to blame the musicians for the lousy job racked up by the CEO and the board of directors.

They've solved their problem by locking out the performers and canceling all performances.

So, exactly, what is it that they are currently managing?

Why are they, and the head conductor, still drawing their fat, bloated salaries if there are no performances?

How many hours are they working each week? How do they spend their time at the office?

Why haven't they chopped their own salaries and benefits for the duration of the standoff they created?

LES PARKINSON, consultant, Jacksonville

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTServices will be decreased

I feel strongly about the constitutional amendment on property taxes.

The city of Jacksonville has overspent its limits on follies such as the stadium, the arena, and the baseball park.

Then, there is the courthouse debacle, and the giant $35 million hole called "The Shipyards." The City Council has poured money out of the budget for too long, and now the coffers are dry. There is no fiscal responsibility.

We have vital services that are going to suffer more than they are now. They are the schools, fire service and police services.

If the amendment passes, Sheriff John Rutherford has said he will have to lay off officers. The fire chief said he will have to close fire stations. Jacksonville cannot afford to lose these.

On the state level, our schools are already operating on a shoestring. How much worse does it have to get before we say enough is enough?

I would rather pay the $200 to $300 in taxes and keep services or improve services. I don't care what other "funding sources" the state government says it will come up with to cover services, it will still be a tax, and it will be the same amount.

Just forget the amendment and demand that local governments lean up and be more fiscally responsible!

Do you want to wait longer for a police officer when your house is being broken into in the middle of the night?

How much longer are you willing to wait for that rescue unit when you are having a heart attack?

How much more do our students have to miss out on because there is no money in the budget? I am a homeowner, and I say do not pass the amendment!

ROBERT HANDRES, Orange Park

SCIENCEEvolution is a theory

The fact that the scientific theory of evolution is being debated in the same breath with the religious theory of creationism and intelligent design is appalling.

In the 1920s, Tennessee was the scene of the famous Scopes monkey trial that debated the legitimacy of teaching evolution.

Since that time, scientific evidence has continued to come in supporting the theories involved in natural selection and evolution.

Recently, the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine published their updated edition of Science, Evolution & Creationism.

In it, they state, quite succinctly, "The evidence for evolution can be fully compatible with religious faith. Science and religion are different ways of understanding the world. Needlessly placing them in opposition reduces the potential of each to contribute to a better future."

Evolution is a scientific theory, testable, but not 100 percent provable.

Isaac Newton's theories, including that of gravity, are theories. Not provable.

But you don't need to prove gravity, because, when you try to deny it, you fall.

Creationism, and intelligent design are not scientific theories; they are religious explanations for unknown happenings.

The story of creationism is allegorical, nothing more, nothing less.

The infusion of religious theory into scientific teaching is folly; it should have ended in the 1920s along with the Scopes monkey trial.

ED BRUNSON, consultant, Jacksonville

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTVote against legislation

I am opposed to the constitutional amendment on property taxes. In principle, it denies home rule by cities and counties.

In practice, it will undermine Jacksonville's attempts to become a first-tier city. We have needs in police, fire, public health, parks and recreation, in children's concerns and elder affairs. All of these would be cut back by passage of that amendment.

You cannot have rock bottom taxes and adequate social services.

As a community and as a society, we have responsibilities to those who are less fortunate - children, seniors, the handicapped and homeless. We also have obligations to the middle class to provide decent schools, parks and libraries.

Cutting taxes, which should not even be a constitutional issue, in a city with an already low tax rate will destroy whatever aspirations we have to become a quality-of-life city.